Data 605 Discussion week 13

4.3.8 A rancher has 1000 feet of fencing in which to construct adjacent, equally sized rectangular pens. What dimensions should these pens have to maximize the enclosed area?

3 width sides (of width x), and 2 length sides (of length y). First add up all the lengths and widths and sum to 1000 feet:

Perimeter:

3x + 2y = 1000 2y = 1000 - 3x y = 500 - 1.5x

Area:

A(x) = xy

Combine equations:

A(x) = x(500 - 1.5x) = 500x - 1.5x^2

Since A(x) = x(500 - 1.5x), we want \(x\geqslant 0, 500 - 1.5x \geqslant 0\), so \(0\leq x\leq 333.33\).

Set A’(x) = 0,

A’(x) = 500 - 3x = 0, x = 500/3

A(500/3) = 500/3(500 - 1.5(500/3)) = 41666.67 feet

We set y = 500 - 1.5x, y = 250,

3 side of length is 500/3, and 2 side of length is 250, total area is 41666.67 feet square.